Policy proposals on sustainability or sustainable development (SD) by mainstream economists, on the one hand, and mainstream scientists and engineers, on the other, are sufficiently different for it to be very difficult to find common ground. Approaches of these disciplines to the issue of continuous growth, for example of GDP, provide one obvious example.

In this chapter, the two approaches are shown to be derived from the utility-based and metabolic models of economic activity. These may be broadly described as representing, respectively, the weak and strong sustainability principles. In the opinion of the author, resolution of the apparent dilemma of choice between the two approaches is appropriately addressed not as an either/or dichotomy but as a both/and issue, reflecting an actualization hierarchy between the two models.

It is imperative that the scientific community contributes to identification of common ground and to policy developments in sustainability. Suggestions are made to assist in this process and move towards a holistic policy programme for SD in Aotearoa New Zealand.

(Note: While many aspects of the following discussion refer explicitly to Aotearoa/New Zealand, the overall argument is entirely general and relevant to most, if not all, countries.)